Continuing to Crowd Fund the Volunteers: The Second donor lists for the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry - July 1794
Continuing to Crowd Fund the Volunteers: The Second donor lists for the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry - July 1794
Plate from P C G Webster,
The Records of the Queen’s Own Royal Regiment of Staffordshire Yeomanry, Lichfield & London, 1870.
Money, as Cicero noted, is the nerves of war and the founding of a regiment of horse needed a lot of it. A month after the initial publication of the list of donors, who were making the raising of the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry possible, a second list was published of people who made its success probable. The list contained 173 names and represented the spread of the appeal from the great and good to the greatish and generally well intentioned. Both lists reveal this to be a project in which, in the early Summer of 1794, required motivated collectors as some communities rallied to this Staffordshire project, while others, less connected to the heart of the county, stood by.
The Shrewsbury Chronicle Friday 25th July 1794. [1]
At this point, I really ought to point out I’m going to do a lot of playing with numbers and maps. You may want to skip down to the conclusion to see where this is going. Or not. It really is a matter of taste.
The administration of the list is somewhat simpler than the first published on 16th June in Aris’s Birmingham Gazette. While the 84 names on the first list - the June donations - were mostly ordered by size of donation, some difference for rank of the nobility had been given amongst the nobles at the top. This did not need to apply here. The order was in terms of donation - after which no distinction, even for alphabetical order, was given. John Gough, who was added as a later comer on the first list in some papers, but not others, is planted firmly on top with a 100 guinea donation. After him, money is the detriment. The only exception to this rule being two late entrants, presumably added after the list had even been drawn up or sent to the press, being William Keen [11 guineas] and James Watt [30 pounds.]
Table 1: Amounts pledged to Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry June - July 1794 [Lists 1 and 2]
Mathematical neatness has given way to the tendency to hand out guineas. While all these bands are arbitrary it seemed more fitting to lump the ten guinea and ten pound men together than to promote them to a higher plane of being. John Gough’s late donation has been put in the July list. [2]
The second list contests with the first in that the donors, while still giving substantial sums by the standards of the day, are not the higher members of the elite, the list has inched down the social scale. About a third of the first list donors were giving over £50 and included peers and knights, only 8.63% gave that much in the second. The under 10 guinea donors were a substantial part of the first list [41.66%] they make up a clear majority of the second [71.68%.]
Raising the Staffs Yeomanry seems very much, in the first place,the work of the county elite. [3] The first list reflects this in the strength of the donations. The clergy, who represented 27% of the first list, are less in evidence in the second. Seven reverend gentlemen are recorded, making up 5% of the total. The clergy, especially those with a connection to Lichfield Cathedral, were probably easy to contact and mobilise to the cause. The second list shows not only less wealthy donors but some diversity. Women are more notable. Compared to the one widow who stumped up in June 1794, twelve women [7%] came forward in July. [4] Likewise Civic Bodies appear - such as the get attable Corporation of Lichfield, who gave £50. We also see industrial concerns, such as the potters Wood & Caldwell, donate. [5]
The clergy may have been an easy group to mobilise, both through their very public role as community leaders and, possibly, through their need to maintain patronage of the other members of the elite. In the first list, of the 22 donors of less than 10 guineas, seven are clergymen, six of whom lived near Stafford.
In the second [July] list the most generous of clergy donors was George Talbot. Talbot was the chaplain to George Venables-Vernon, 2nd Baron Vernon [6] While he was rector of the Gloucestershire parish of Great Rissington, his patron held land in Staffordshire and lived just over the Derbyshire Border, in Sudbury Hall and Talbot owned land in Staffordshire [7]. William Inge came second in the clergy stakes, giving 10 guineas. He was a canon at Lichfield Cathedral and held parishes in Berkswich with Walton and Brereton cum Smethwick. The Reverend Charles Blackham was perpetual curate at Norton Canes, which seems appropriate as he was Head Master of Walsall Grammar School. Alas, the Rev James Stafford did not much outlive his donation. Once of the Peculiar Royal Free Chapel of Wolverhampton [1761-69] and lately of the Parish of Farthinghoe, the 79 year old died in Penkridge on 8th September 1794 [8]. Overall the clergy represented 5% of the donors and roughly 3% of the donations in the second list.
The women of the list are more difficult to come to firm conclusions about - as they are more difficult to trace in the records - so far. Mrs Fenton of Betley donated 10 guineas. She may be related to the Thomas Fentons of Newcastle under Lymne or Walthal Fenton of Cheadle - the search is still on. Mrs Dorothy [?] Beard of Newcastle gave ten pounds. Sarah Biddulph, who was involved in several inheritance scandals, gave a fiver. [9] Further research is needed to discover if these women are widows, running their own households, likewise the single Miss, Miss Avarnes.
Map 1: Donations by locations, the first list.
The first list showed some patterns of donations. High Sheriff Matthew Boulton leading the way in the Handsworth and environs part of the county. Boulton’s ‘circle’ were among the larger donors. Grandees of Mid Staffordshire are also well represented. Clusters, often of the lesser donors, existed around Wolverhampton [4], Lichfield [6], The Potteries [6] and Stafford [11]. Given Stafford was the venue for the inaugural meeting of the Yeomanry we can assume that some of the local elite were more readily available to be solicited for cash during the meeting, this is certainly true of the local clergy - see later. I haven’t drawn arbitrary lines to mark out districts because I’m not sure it would add clarity to the exercise, but we can probably infer that some of the donors living near to these settlements would have visited these places on market days and the like and so be drawn into the orbit of those looking for donations.
Map 2: Donations by locations, the second list.
The second list shows how the Yeomanry Committee and its local representatives were busy, especially in the market towns. A scattering of donors gave from the countryside but little more came from the Handsworth area and much of western Staffordshire. The South West, possibly feeling more isolated from the county core, was not forthcoming. Tamworth and Burton remain remarkable in their low participation.
Some communities that had already given, gave again. Some saw the donations coming in smaller amounts, probably from less affluent donors. Stafford had already provided donors, mode averaging at five guineas, in the first list. The fourteen from the greater Stafford community were mostly giving between half and three guineas. In the Potteries the amounts and numbers remained roughly the same, although there was a shift from south to north of the area and the solicitors of funds did their work. Lichfield remained a place where larger sums were given, albeit two single guinea men added their weight to the total. Wolverhampton saw more people give, and they tended to be the sort who gave above 10 guineas.
Bilston, Cheadle, Leek, Newcastle under Lyme, Rugeley and Walsall became sudden centres of activities towns hitherto untouched were touched for cash.
The worthies of Leek had not participated in the first round of giving. The chief donor this time round was Simon Debank, who gave £30 and was named as one of the local men organising the late August recruiting event. Michael Dainty, also a recruiter, stumped up ten guineas. The other sixteen donors gave between half and five guineas.
Newcastle-under-Lyme seems to have thought 10 guineas the right amount of money to give, as that is what the vast majority of donors gave. [10] They were a very bourgeois lot, being bankers, solicitors, a doctor and an ironmonger.
The Black Country settlements of Bilston and Walsall became the focus of some efforts. In Bilston the amounts tended to be on the lower side. Mssrs Bickley, Best & Bickley, Ironmasters, gave guineas. Mostly it was around the two guinea mark, from the likes of Samuel Proud, mercer and Daniel Caddick, tinplate smith. The same is true of Walsall. One to five guineas were given by such as Charles Forster, gunsmith and druggist Deykin Heming.
Last but never least was Rugeley. Twenty four people donated from Rugeley and its very near neighbours, Brereton and Colton. Possibly this was because of the relatively nearby influence of Lord Bagot but probably had a lot to do with the purposefulness of Francis Pereceval Elliot, soon to be Major and commander of the Lichfield troop. [11] The energetic John Sparrow - who attended four of the recruiting drives, lived at Bishton Hall, two miles from Rugeley. The example of the Revd Talbot may have led the way, giving 20 guineas. Most of the donors were under five pounds and some as low as five shillings. Among the occupations listed were surgeon, draper and attorney. [12]
Map 3: Donations by location: Both lists
By early July 1794 £5548-12-6 had been pledged. While it is to be expected that areas with a higher population would be more likely to provide more donors it is notable that active communities in the heart of the county, such as Walsall, Stafford and the Potteries made solid contributions and Rugeley exceeded its neighbours in terms of individual donations. The South Eastern borders seem to have mobilised the gentry but West Bromwich, Tamworth and Burton all seem to have been immune to early enthusiasm.
The term ‘Yeomanry’ evokes images of the solidly reliable countryman, probably fresh from the fields, not grand enough to have a coat of arms but above the common sort. Were these donors men with clay on their riding boots?
Defining who is urban and who is not may be a fool's errand, especially in a county which was rapidly industrialising at both ends. In the first list 30 of the 80 identified donors, that is, whom the community they live in is fairly certain, dwelt in market towns. How far you had to live outside the centre of town to be considered part of its community is a moot point. Good, flat roads meant travelling in for market days and other considerations might mean the distance was greater around Stafford than, say, Leek. [13] Half lived within 4 kilometers of a market town. Those
While the first list consisted of those giving more cash, only 5% who gave less than 10 pounds lived outside of towns and they gave five guineas. Table 2 shows that the ‘countrymen’ - those living 4km from a town centre, gave large amounts and I think it is fair to assume this is the Squirearchy [14] supporting the project.
Table 2: Location of List 1 donors, living beyond 4km from the centre of a market town
Table 3: Location of List 1 donors, within 4km from the centre of a market town
The figure 4km is suggestive of how connected to a town and its community someone was, rather than an urban status. For example, it includes Sir Edward Littleton Bart and John Turton Esquire, both of whom lived in halls near market towns. Living in or close to town made a person easier to lobby for funds and the list reflects this. In Stoke the potters Thomas Wolfe, Samuel and Josiah Spode, Josiah Wedgewood and John Harrison make up the donors list - with the Rev William Robinson added for good measure. Stafford represents our ‘paupers’. This may reflect that these were local elite men who could make the time to attend the inaugural meeting, unlike many from other towns, and so were put upon to donate at the time.
Table 4: Location of List 2 donors, within 4km from the centre of a market town
[15]
Of the 155 identified donors on the second list 95 lived in a market town and a further 38 lived within 4 kilometers. While the second list donors tend to give less, only 2 of the 22 ‘country’ dwellers gave less than five guineas whereas 44 of the 95 town dwellers and 56 of the 133 who lived within 4 kms gave that amount. It is estimated that a rider on horseback can travel 8km an hour [16]. 81% of the List One donors lived within an hour of a market town in Staffordshire and 97.5% within two. In list 2, 94.8% of donors lived within an hour of a market town and all within two.
The identified donors of smaller amounts were town dwellers. 11 of the 12 identified givers of less than a guinea lived in or very near Leek, Stafford and Rugeley. The 12th was the Reverend John Rogers, of the Moorlands parish of Rushton. Only two of the One or two guineas men were not from or close to a town - and both lived in Abbots Bromley. In both lists, of the dwellers over 8km from a town, only reverend gentlemen gave less than ten pounds - John Rogers donating half a guinea and William Wright, five. In other words, the country, when it gave, gave relatively big. [13]
Table 5: Location of List 1 & 2 donors, living beyond 8km from the centre of a Staffordshire market town
The above table does not include the £16 17 shillings given by the parish of Blithfield, probably under the urging of the Bagots of Blithfield Hall.
The first two lists of donors to the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry show the gradual spread of the engagement of the community with the project. In June 1794 the county elite, supported by the mildly prosperous, particularly the clergy around Stafford, rallied to the cause. Within a month this had spread across the county towns, where local elites could be found to organise and apply pressure to donate but not into the countryside away from the chief settlements. The ‘urban’ bias is particularly true in towns like Leek and Rugeley, which show higher levels of participation, compared to Tamworth and Burton, which seem largely untouched by this early enthusiasm.
Footnotes
[1] The Shrewsbury Chronicle Friday 25th July 1794.p.1
[2] A rough understanding of the figures on the table can be gained from the Bank of England inflation calculator. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator The following are figures from 1794 compared to May 2026
£100 = £11,833
£50 = £5,916
£22 = 2,603
£11 =1,302
£5 = 592
£1 = 118
[3] The next thing on the to-do list is to create biographies of these people to place them more in context.
[4] I have rounded up or down figures to the nearest half percent for ease of comprehension and, because and because the decimals are not the significant in the grand scheme of things].
[5] The details of donors have been gleaned from available records such as newspapers, birth, marriage and death records and apprenticeship agreements. Some people it is possible to be certain about, such as Granville Leveson-Gower, Marquis of Stafford. Others, like Thomas Barker esquire, I am not., nor Mrs Pegg or exactly where the Rev W Proctor was residing. I have ascribed a location if I can find a record of someone of that name which links them to that place and time and does not have a rival name which provide an alternative. It is to be wished that Mr and Mrs Barker had named young Tom something more unusual. This is an ongoing process and I hope revisiting the names with fresh eyes and new approaches will help nail down more locations. Even as I wrote this I thought I had placed Jeff Averne in Rugeley and quietly cursing I went to amend three maps and some text but was saved by the fact there were two possible Jeff Avernes in the records.
[6] https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?PersonID=20002
[7] See Staffordshire Advertiser 7th September 1799 p.2 and Gamekeeper Certificates Staffordshire Advertiser 5th September 1795 p.2
[8] Aris’s’ Birmingham Gazette, 4th August 1794 p.3
[9] Fragments of Sarah Biddulph’s life can be found here.
https://jobbinghistorian.blogspot.com/2026/04/fragments-of-life-of-sarah-biddulph.html
[10] Newcastle under Lyme donors numbered one in the first list and ten in the second. Six gave 10 guineas, one ten pounds. The others gave fifty guineas [1] or five guineas [2].
[11] Elliot owned Elmhurst Hall - about five miles away. His militia career would see him appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the newly raised 3rd Staffordshire Militia in 1798 and Colonel in 1799.
[12] Of the 26 ‘Greater Rugeley’ [within 4km] donors four gave 10 guineas or more, 6 gave 3 guineas, four gave 2 guineas, 5 have a guineas, 3 half a guinea and 3 five shillings.
[13] I did consider 3km to be the border as it was the ‘as the crow flys’ distance I walked to work when I was at Stafford Castle, but, with all considerations, the numbers are approximate for where people lived and should be taken as an indication, not some solid truth. People do tend to get over excited by some numbers.
[14] What term is most applicable to the richer land owners in the countryside will have to be put aside for now. I will agonise over it later. Meanwhile I really need to publish this.
[15]
And because you can’t have too many tables.
Table 6: Location of List 1 and 2 donors, within 4km from the centre of a market town
List 1 Donors in RED List 2 Donors in BLACK
[16] The Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure - blog by Alan Rosevear.,https://www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk/blog/2024/09/12/have-to-walk/
[12] Of the 26 ‘Greater Rugeley’ [within 4km] donors four gave 10 guineas of more, 6 gave 3 guineas, four gave 2 guineas, 5 have a guineas, 3 half a guinea and 3 five shillings.
[13] Of the 22 ‘countrymen’ nine gave a solid fifty pounds, five gave ten pounds / guineas.
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